Floor board installation tool



July 28, 1970 R. E. OMHOLT FLOOR BOARD INSTALLATION TOOL 2 Sheetsfiheet 1 Filed Jan. 31, 1968 INVENTOIP RAY E. OMHOLT ATTORNEY July 28, 1970 R. E. OMHOLT FLOOR BOARD INSTALLATION TOOL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 31, 1968 INVENTOR RA Y E. OMHOLT A rroawg r 3,521,685 FLOOR BOARD INSTALLATION TOOL Ray E. Omholt, Berwyn, Pa. Powerlock Floors, Inc., 2028 Chancellor St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19103) Filed Jan. 31, 1968, Ser. No. 702,044

Int. Cl. B27f /10 U.S. Cl. 144-76 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A floor board installation tool for severing a strip from the tongue of a tongued and grooved floor board to make room for emplacement of a hold down clip. The tool has a tool head with a cutter head slidable therealong, the cutter head having a longitudinal cutting edge end transverse cuttingedges, the transverse cutting edges preferably moving in advance of and cutting the strip prior to cutting by the longitudinal cutting edge.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention relates to tools for installing tongued and grooved wood floor boards in which a portion of the tongue of a tongued and grooved board is removed to provide room for insertion of a board holding clip.

Description of the prior art In the installation of wood flooring it has heretofore been proposed to utilize various types of fasteners in engagement with the boards to hold them in place. Nails driven diagonally from above the tongue have been commonly used.

It has also been proposed to utilize various types of clips with tongued and grooved wood floor boards. Among these are Cherry, No. 1,974,259, and my prior Pat. No. 3,267,630. In my copending application Ser. No. 534,371, filed Mar. 15, 1966, for Flooring Systems a clip is illustrated which is driven into the side edge of the board below the tongue. While very satisfactory results have been achieved with the structure of my prior patent and of my application just referred to, a greatly enhanced holding action can be obtained by having a clip in penetrating engagement with the tongue side edge of the board above the lower level of the tongue, and/or holding engagement on the groove side of the board. A flooring system embodying this construction is described in my copending application filed Jan. 31, 1969 Ser. No. 702,005.

No satisfactory tool is at present available for quickly and easily removing a short portion of the tongue of a tongued and grooved board at any desired location and which satisfies the requirement for rapid and accurate removal of such portion.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the invention a tool is provided, air operated if desired, for the rapid removal of a predetermined portion of the tongue of a tongued and grooved board at any predetermined location along the board at which a fastening clip is to be applied.

In accordance with the invention, also, a tool is provided for removal of a portion of the tongue of a tongued and grooved board which has a cutter for first severing at the ends and then starting to sever longitudinally the wood strip to be removed, the location of the severing being laterally gaged with respect to a side marginal edge of the board.

In accordance with the invention, also, a tool is provided of the character aforesaid which can also be utilized to discharge the severed strip to another location.

; nitgd States Patent 0 In accordance with the present invention, also, a tool 1s provided for severing a selected portion of the tongue of a tongued and grooved board which includes a shelf providing an abutment to prevent the tool from rising and which preferably is at the same distance from the bottom of the board as the distance to the bottom of the tongue.

Other objects and advantageous features of the invention will be apparent from the description and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The nature and characteristic features of the invention will be more readily understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming part thereof, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of one embodiment of the tool of the present invention shown in connection with a floor board being installed;

FIG. 2 is a view in perspective of a portion of a tongued and grooved floor board showing the strip removed from the tongue;

FIG. 3 is a view in perspective showing the cutter head and gaging portion of the tool of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view, taken approximately on the line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a horizontal sectional view, taken approximately on the line 5-5 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the cutter removed from the head.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now more particularly to FIG. 1 of the drawing, a flooring system is there illustrated which includes a supporting foundation or base 10, of concrete, wood or the like having a plurality of channels 11 secured thereto in parallel relation and in level condition. The channels 11 may be secured in place in any desired manner, and such as in my prior Pat. No. 3,031,725 but preferably by explosively applied fasteners 14. A waterproofing and vaporproofiing coating 12 can be applied to the base 10 prior to securing the channels 11 and cushioning and sealing strips 15 may be provided between the channels 11 and the coating 12.

The floor boards 20 are preferably of conventional type with flat top faces 21 and longitudinally extending edge tongues 22.

The tongues 22 have upper faces 22a and lower faces 22b and the board 20 has upper and lower vertical longitudinal edge faces 23 and 24 along the tongues 22. The floor boards 20 on their edges opposite to those provided with the tongues 22 have longitudinal edge grooves 25 for the reception of tongues 22 of contiguous boards 20. The tongues 22 preferably have a. snug to tight fit of their tongue faces 22a and 22b in the grooves 25 to prevent relative movement when they are engaged. Normal manufacturing tolerances are suitable. The boards 20 have upper and lower vertical side edge faces 26 and 27 respectively above and below the edge grooves 25 and have bottom faces 28 which may be provided with stress relieving grooves 29.

This type of floor board 20, as is customary, may have the lower faces 24 and 27 respectively offset with respect to the upper faces 23 and 26 and the groove 25 may be of greater depth than the horizontal transverse dimension of the tongue 22.

When the boards 20 are in place, with the tongues 22 extending into the grooves 25 the faces 23 and 26 are in engagement and the faces 24 and 27 are separated to provide a clearance therebetween.

Thebottom faces 28 of the boards 20 are preferably held in engagement with the upper faces of the channels 11 by clips as shown in my application Ser. No. 534,371.

In FIG. 2, a portion of a floor board 20 is illustrated having a strip 30 severed from the tongue 22 leaving transverse vertical end faces 31 and a longitudinal vertical face 32 which may be in the same plane as the face 24.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 3 to 6 inclusive, the tool for severing the strip 30 is there illustrated.

The tool preferably includes a tool head 35 having a central body 36, side plates 37 secured to the body by studs 38 and a cross bar 39 secured to the body 36 by studs 40.

The body 36 has a shank 41 secured thereto, such as by studs 42, and actuator 43 such as an air cylinder may be provided, with a pistol grip handle 44 and manual operating lever 45 for providing a single power impulse upon movement thereof. An air hose 46 extends to any suitable source of air under pressure.

The body 36 and shank 41 have a groove 48 providing a guideway for the reception of a piston and cutter head actuator rod 49. The rod 49 where it is movable in the groove 48 can be square in cross section.

The groove 48, at its lower end, may have a stop 50 held therein by a stud 51 to limit downward movement of the actuator rod 49.

The rod 49 has secured thereto such as by stud 53, a cutter head 54 which is guided by and slidable in the space between the side plates 37, the central body 36, and the cross bar 39.

The cutter head 54, at its free end, has transversely disposed side cutters 55 with cutting edges 56 for severing the ends of the strip 30 along the faces 31 and a longitudinal cutter 57 with a cutting edge 58 for cutting along the face 32. The edge 58 is set back from the edges 56 so that it does not come into action until a substantial cutting action has been effected by the edges 56.

The cutter head 54 carries a stop block 60, held in place by studs 61 and with a cushioning pad 62 carried thereon for engagement with the upper face of the cross bar 39 to cushion and limit the downward movement of the cutter head 54.

In order that the cutter head 54, and particularly the cutting edge 58 be positioned to cut at the desired lateral location at the edge of the board 20, and thus provide proper blade to board edge positioning the side plates 37 have cut outs 64 to accommodate the tongue 22 of the board 20 from which the strips 30 are to be severed. The cut outs 64 have thereabove and therebelow face portions 65 and 66, either of which may by its engagement with the upper edge face 23 or with the lower edge face 24, provide gages.

The bottom face 67 of each cut out 64 provides a shelf for abutting engagement with the bottom face 22b of the tongue 22. The shelf 67 is located so as to be at the same distance from the bottom of the plates 37 as the bottom face 22b of the board is from the bottom face 28 of the board 20 and provides for abutting engagement with the bottom face 22b of the tongue 22., The face 67, as an abutment, prevents upward displacement of the tool head 35 upon downward movement of the cutter head 54.

Retainers 68 held on the side plates 37 and held by studs 69 also aid in retaining the cutter heads 54, for sliding movement.

In use the tool is moved by the user tg a position so that the cut outs 64- bridge the tongues 22 at the location where the strip 30 is to be severed. While the boards 20 are shown as horizontal with their faces 21 disposed upwardly, if the boards 20 were vertically oriented about the longitudinal axis as insome wall constructions, the tool is still useful for their installation with clips. 7 i

The cutter head 54 is positioned by engagement of one of the faces or 66, and in this instance the face 66 of the side plate 37 is in engagement with the edge face 24 of the board 20. i A

The shelf 67 engages the lower or remote tongue 22 of the board.

The cutter head 54 is actuated, such as by movement of the lever 45 to advance it so that the cutting edges '56 cut first along the end faces 31 and then the cutting edge 58 makes a transverse cut, to sever a strip 30 which may remain between the side plates 37. A second power impulse may be applied by actuation of the lever 45, and with the tool moved to a position so that the strip 30 will fall out or be ejected away from the foundation 10 and preferably on boards 20 already in place so that it may be swept up with other severed strips 30.

The fastener (not shown) may then be applied and engage through the vertical face 32.

I claim: 1. A tool for severing a portion of the tongue on the side edge of a tongued and grooved board comprising a tool head having transverse side guide plates, a cutter head slidably mounted in said tool head between side guide plates, an actuating member for said cutter head, said cutter head having spaced tranverse cutting edges and a longitudinal cutting edge and said transverse cutting edges being disposed in advance of said longitudinal cutting edge, I said side guide plates having board contacting fixed upright faces in a plane parallel to the plane of movement of the cutter head for positioning said longitudinal cutting edge with respect to an edge face of the board, and said side guide plates having cutaway portions providing clearance for the board tongue bounded by a shelf for engagement with the tongue on either side of the portion to be severed and positioning said tool head with respect to the tongue for cutting of the tongue by said cutter head. 2. A tool as defined in claim 1 in which said shelf is at a location corresponding to thebottom of the tongue. 3. A tool as defined in claim 1 in which said actuating member includes a power operated device.

side of the References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2/1869 Snow 144-27 DONALD R. SCHRAN, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X11. 427 

